AN OKEHAMPTON business is benefitting from a new Business Link Devon and Cornwall initiative called EVOKE, designed to help identify and support the top 30 high growth companies in the South West. EVOKE provides a variety of advice, assistance and support for entrepreneurs and inventors with big ideas that have the potential to develop into cutting edge technologies and grow their businesses into multi million pound operations and the next generation of market leaders. Availability Systems Ltd, based in Red Lion Yard, Okehampton is one of the businesses already benefitting from securing EVOKE status. Andrew Finley, managing director of Availability Systems Ltd, said: ?EVOKE has been invaluable, the scheme gave us access to extremely high class mentoring. The business is looking to expand both domestically and internationally and the one to one help we received from our EVOKE mentor has proved priceless. In fact, right from the start the whole relationship with Business Link has been of enormous help.? With a background in creating specialist Internet applications, Andrew realised the potential for a service which would cut out the need for time consuming telephone enquiries when booking a meeting room or conference centre. He set up Availability Systems in 2003 in answer to research confirming the biggest problem facing venues and organisers was the amount of time staff spent fielding enquiries about bookings and establishing venue availability. The conference and meeting market is worth £14 billion pounds annually so he knew he had identified a huge gap in a growing market. The company developed VenueCheck, a system where a client can search online for their preferred venue and dates and check the availability of rooms before booking. Venue inventory can be updated automatically via live data feeds from in house management systems and on-line booking and payment options can be provided if required. Availability Systems received help and assistance from the EVOKE programme to access specialist legal advice and business support via a mentor. The VenueCheck system is now being used successfully by a growing number of businesses, including The Arundel Arms in Lifton and Bovey Castle on Dartmoor and Leeds Castle in Kent. Andrew said he had just returned from a major international exhibition at the Birmingham NEC where there had been a very positive industry response to the VenueCheck system. The business has already expanded into Europe, is soon to launch in the Middle East and is exploring opportunities in the US. This year it will have trebled its staffing levels, aiming to employ 18 people by the end of 2005.
